Practice Questions for the Heaven Shop by Deborah Ellis

Practice Questions for the Heaven Shop by Deborah Ellis

1.       Why do they have to “cut” the scene?  Binti is not using microphone properly, p. 7

2.       Who is the director?  Mr. Wajiru, p. 8

3.       How do they prevent echoing in the studio?  Blankets on walls, p. 8

4.       What is surprising about the clothes the reporter is wearing?  She is wearing trousers/pants, p. 9

5.       What is Binti’s best dress for?  Church, p. 10

6.       Which president said girls had to wear dresses?  Banda, p. 10

7.       Why are Junie and Noel not married yet?  Father wants Junie to finish school first, p. 10

8.       What is Binti’s school?  St. Peter’s school for girls, p. 10

9.       What does Kwasi like to draw most?  Birds, p. 11

10.   Where does Binti’s family live?  Back of Dad’s coffin shop, p. 11

11.   What does Gogo mean?  Grandmother, p. 11

12.   Who is Binit’s character? Kettie, p. 12

13.   How did Binti get the acting job?  Notice in library, p. 13

14.   Who says “let’s produce something that Malawi will find worth listening to”?  Mr. Wajiru, p. 15

15.   Why is Binti’s city called Blantyre?  Named after city in Scotland, p. 17

16.   Where did second hand clothing come from?  America, p. 18

17.   Who is Binti’s dad’s competitor?  Mr. Tsaka, p. 20

18.   Why does Binti’s father like a clean shop?  To show respect for customers and grief, p. 23

19.   What happened to wood chips?  People who were poor took them for fuel, p. 23

20.   What is different about Mr. Tsaka’s coffins?  Assembled with screws; factory made, p. 24

21.   How would the little boy pay for the puppy’s coffin?  Work, p. 25

22.   Which animal does Binti’s father draw the line at with free coffins?  Hippos, p.26

23.   What does Junie discover when doing accounts for the coffin business?  Father giving money to the cousins, p. 27

24.   What does Junie think the money should be used for?  Set aside in case of bad times, p. 28

25.   What is the chiperoni?  Cold wind in Malawi, p. 29

26.   Why did Binti refuse to wear a sweater?  Because Junie told her to, p. 29

27.   Which schoolmate wants to be on the radio too?  Glynnis, p. 33

28.   What are Bambo’s symptoms?  Fever, tiredness, coughing, p. 35-36

29.   What could be added to a coffin for extra charge?  Solid paint or bird designs, p. 39

30.   Why is there a party for the cast of Gogo’s family?  Been on air 6 months, p. 41

31.   What was a Malawian term for AIDS?  Slim, p. 42

32.   What language is the radio play given in? Chichewa, p. 43

33.   How had Junie made her dress?  Piecing together parts of ugly ones at second hand stalls, p. 45

34.   Who helps Binti take her father to hospital?  Mr. Tsaka, p. 49

35.   How do they travel to hoop?  Back of pickup truck, p. 50

36.   Why does Binti have to stay at hospital too?  Not enough nurses, p. 50

37.   What does doctor say Bambo has?  Pneumonia, p. 54

38.   What made Binti panic at hospital?  Forgot to leave note for siblings, p. 55

39.   Who shows Binti where taps and toilet are in hospital ward?  Mrs. Nyika, p. 56

40.   When can Binti’s father have a real bed?  When someone gets better or someone dies, p. 57

41.   Where does Mr. Wajiru tell Binti to put her worry during the taping?  In her pocket, p. 60

42.   What happens during the praise song in the hospital?  Binti’s father dies, p. 62

43.   What does Kwasi try to protect from thieving relatives? Books, p. 63-64

44.   How do they get a coffin for father?  Mr. Tsaka lets them assemble and paint one of his at cost price, p. 66

45.   What does Mr. Tsaka tell them to do with their extra money?  Hide it, p. 66

46.   What does Gogo want at the front of church?  To see her son in the coffin, p. 70

47.   To what does Gogo compare AIDS?  A lion, p. 70

48.   What does a relative say Kwasi could do?  Work in the fishing business, p. 72

49.   What will happen to house and business?  Will be sold, p. 76

50.   What had the relatives done with note addressed to Junie?  Read it, p. 77

51.   What had Noel’s note said?  Breaking off engagement because family had AIDS, p. 78

52.   What does the Headmistress let Binti keep?  Her prefect pin, p. 79

53.   What does Mr. Wajiru call what is happening to Binti’s family?  Property grabbing, p. 80

54.   What does Mr.  Wajiru do to help Binti?  Records her voice for future shows, p. 81

55.   Who do Binti and Junie live with?  Uncle Wysom and Aunt Agnes, p. 85

56.   How does Uncle Wyson think you can get AIDS?  Touching someone or sharing a cup, p. 85

57.   What does Aunt Agnes say to her husband after he slapped Binti?  Wash your hand, p. 86

58.   What did Aunt Agnes do with Binti and Junie’s things?  Sorted them to take what she wants, p. 87

59.   Where will the girls sleep?  Storage room, p. 88

60.   What business does Uncle Wyson have?  A diner, p. 88

61.   What else is in the storage room? Maize; cooking oil, p. 88

62.   What sewing job was Junie given? Resize Junie and Binti’s dresses so that they fit cousins, p. 89

63.   Where do they hide money? Loose floorboard in storage room, p. 89

64.   What is Uncle Wysom’s plan for the diner? Use it as a bottle shop (bar) at night, p. 89

65.   How does Binti protest the meanness of Uncle Wysom? Puts dust of sweeping under a rug, p. 90

66.   What does cousin Mary do to Binti because she’s an orphan? Kicks her, p. 92

67.   What does Mary say Binti may have because it’s a holiday? A banana, p. 93

68.   While she’s eating the banana, what does Mary do? Accuses her of stealing, p. 93

69.   What do they hear on the radio at the bar? An episode of Gogo’s family, p. 95

70.   What does Aunt Agnes use to strike Binti because she’s afraid to touch her? Fly swatter, p. 98

71.   Who finds Binti and Junie’s money? Mary, p. 103

72.   What is Uncle Wysom’s plan after their money is found? Considers them thieves and will find a different home for them, p. 104

73.   Where does Junie tell Binti to go?  Find their grandmother, p. 105

74.   How does Binti get money for travel?  She opens diner’s cash box with a knife and takes some money, p. 105

75.   What does the woman on the bus to Mulanje give to Binti?  A banana, p. 107

76.   What was in a bicycle basket in Mulanje?  A goat, p. 109

77.   How does Binti find her grandmother?  She goes to the front of the church to ask if anyone knows her, p. 110

78.   Who will take Binti to her Gogo?  Jeremiah, p. 110

79.   What is Binti’s grandmother’s full name?  Precious Phiri, p. 110

80.   What is Jeremiah’s job?  A peer counselor (about AIDS and HIV), p. 112

81.   What surprising thing does Jeremiah tell Binti before they get on the bike together?  That he is HIV positive, p. 113

82.   What is Memory wearing when Binti meets her?  A boy’s shirt and a skirt and a baby strapped to her back, p. 115

83.   What is missing in the outhouse?  A seat, p. 117

84.   How do 13 people eat with just 3 plates?  Everyone shares, p. 118

85.   What does Binti use for a pillow?  Her night dress wrapped around her church dress, p. 120

86.   Who had built a pump they used for water?  People from Canada, p. 121

87.   Who are the cousins Father had sent his money to support?  The children at Gogo’s house, p. 124

88.   What does Gogo say about “pretend cousins”?  They are all her grandchildren; nobody is a pretend cousin, p. 125

89.   Why is school only 2 days per week?  Teachers have been dying; those left must rotate between different schools, p. 126

90.   What are the student in Mulanje better at than Binti?  Fractions, p. 127

91.   What is on the menu at the Orphan Club?  Nsima and beans, p. 130

92.   How is the play at the Orphan Club different than Binti had been used to?  There is no script and they make up their lines on the spot, p. 132

93.   When is Binti most lonely at Gogo’s house?  If she wakes up in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep, p. 134

94.   Who is the baby Memory carries?  Beauty, her daughter, p. 136-7

95.   What does Gogo say makes shame bigger?  Secrets, p. 137

96.   What is the children’s soccer ball made of?  Shopping bags all rolled up tightly, p. 141

97.   What do children at the orphan club do to cheer Binti up when her character is replaced on the radio show?  Make a play about her life, p. 143

98.   What do the overseas guests give to the orphans?  Soap, p. 145

99.   Where did Jeremiah find Kwasi?  In jail, p. 145

100.                       Why is Kwasi in jail?  Uncle accused him of stealing, p. 147

101.                       What does the social worker at the jail say is common?  Orphans being in jail, p. 148

102.                       Why does Kwasi not have enough to eat?  The stronger boys get to the food first, p. 149

103.                       Who helps Binti when she first gets her “monthlies”? Memory, p. 153

104.                       How does Binit thank Memory for the cloths?  Gives her prefect pin to Memory, p. 153

105.                       What happens during Malawi’s hunger season?  The price of maize goes up, p. 156

106.                       What does Binti give Kwasi for drawing?  Paper from her script (the back), p. 156

107.                       Who built a coffin for the toddler who died at Gogo’s house?  Kwasi and Binti, p. 159

108.                       What do they use the money from coffins to buy?  Tools and lumber, p. 161

109.                       Which tools do they buy?  A used hammer, saw and nails, p. 162

110.                       What instructions had Gogo left with the pastor?  That the orphans will have her property, not the adult relatives, p. 164

111.                       How could the children grow their coffin business?  Through a loan, p. 166

112.                       What are other things they build?  A bench and a bed, p. 167

113.                       Where do they find Junie?  Along the border with Mozambique, p. 168

114.                       What had Junie been saving for the day she was reunited with her family?  Her clean school uniform, p. 174

115.                       What had Junie brought home with her?  Gifts for everyone, p. 176

116.                       What had Binti’s father said goes into their coffins?  Tears, p. 178